The Object That Fell to Earth

A wave like static electricity rushed down ahead of everything else, sweeping over them in an instant and making every hair on their bodies stand on end!

That warning felt like standing where lightning was about to strike in the rain. No one needed another word. The hikers ran with everything they had, wishing their parents had given them two extra legs!

The younger Niu Zixu surged ahead without even stopping to drop his pack. His long legs ate up the ground, and in moments he was out in front!

Liu Dahai cursed inwardly. I was stronger than you back in the day!

Not that he could do anything about it.

Sure enough, within moments, a thin arc of light cut across the distant sky. It plunged downward, growing clearer as it came into view, though its tremendous speed gradually slowed.

But contrary to expectations, it did not burn out at low altitude like an ordinary meteor. The flying light held its brightness all the way down, dimming only slightly as it neared the ground.

Something was wrong!

Liu Dahai had the sharpest eyes. When he glimpsed it passing over the nearest peak, the trees along the ridgeline toppled like wheat stalks, charred, and crumbled to ash—

His stomach dropped.

What the hell? Is that a meteor or ball lightning?

Before it could actually hit the ground, the meteor, faintly wreathed in electricity, burst apart in midair once more. Perhaps the surrounding air pressure had changed too sharply.

Boom!

A great spray of sparks and fragments of light scattered across the sky. Finer and finer arcs of electricity flickered and twisted among them, like a peony bursting into bloom.

Several streaks of light shot out in different directions. One traced a fading line through the air and fell straight toward